The Sennheiser Orpheus beautifully combines some 6,000 components with a gorgeous (and supremely rigid) base of Carrara marble, and it pristinely conveys every recorded detail to provide a level of musical realism that headphones rarely if ever achieve. The Orpheus’s electrostatic headphone system, called HE 1, features electrostatic diaphragms that are made from vaporized platinum and are 2.4 micrometers thick. It’s the optimum thickness, according to Sennheiser, for controlling the air movement of each diaphragm vibration.

In addition to headphones, the Sennheiser Orpheus includes vacuum-tube amplification and onboard signal processing.

The system’s headphones deliver a frequency response from 8 Hz to more than 100 kHz, enabling them to generate magnificent bass response, with enormous headroom in the upper registers.

Pressing the volume knob on the marble base activates the system, prompting the control knobs and the tubes to emerge and the lid of the case containing the headphones to tilt open.